Flight terror as emergency door ripped open by passenger 'after argument over phone'

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An agitated man managed to force open an emergency exit on a flight and 'tried to jump out' during a heated argument with his girlfriend about her mobile phone. The JetBlue Flight 161, which was leaving from Boston Logan International Airport, was stopped on the tarmac after a man pulled open a plane door and triggered an emergency slide.

According to the Massachusetts Port Authority, the plane - which was heading to San Juan in Puerto Rico - had just started taxiing and was still on the ground when the incident occurred at around 7.30pm on Tuesday, January 7. As reported by the Daily Mail, it's understood the person was quickly restrained by other passengers.

Passenger Fred Wynn, who was sitting behind the couple, told NBC10 : "I guess the boyfriend wanted to see the girlfriend's phone, and she wouldn't let him see."

Wynn explained that the man then leaped out of his seat and ran down the aisle to an emergency door before frantically opening it.

The plane's pilot told Air Traffic Control: 'We have a passenger that opened an emergency exit door and tried to jump out the airplane."

Speaking to WCVB, he said: "Then he went to the door and as soon as the door was open, the air marshal tackled him. Once they got him to the ground, I think everybody felt safe."

The JetBlue passenger - whose name has not been released - was expected to face charges and be arraigned Wednesday, Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Tim McGuirk said. Mr McGuirk said that the door was opened “suddenly and without warning”.

The opening of the overwing exit door caused an emergency slide to deploy aboard JetBlue flight 161 from Boston to San Juan, the airline said in a statement.

The airline said: “The flight was eventually swapped to another aircraft and has since landed in San Juan. We greatly appreciate our customers’ understanding as we worked to address this situation.”

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